Presonus Studio One?

[ToddStakem]

Hello,
Just joined Taxi and I needed some home recording advise. I record all styles of music, from EDM to bluegrass, rock to new age. I currently use the presonus usb interface into a MacBook pro. Would I be wiser to go fire wire? As studio one was the first, and only DAW that I've used, would anyone recommend I explore Protools or any other DAW or are they pretty much all the same?

Many Thanks,

Todd

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

I recently switched to studio one this year and i absolutely love it. The workflow is so easy and sped up my sessions by a lot. I was with Cakewalk for over 15 years - and decided to demo S1 when Sonar went to a subscription model. I have not looked back. I love studio one!

Marcus

[Len911]

It's not necessary to go firewire unless you find the need to.

I wouldn't shop for a new daw when there are so many other priorities you could purchase to make a bigger difference, unless you are upgrading to a more advanced version, and actually need it.

[mojobone]

The "Artist" version of Presonus' DAW doesn't accept third party plugins. Strictly speaking, nobody's DAW requires third-party plugins, but...ideally, nobody needs anything but a little EQ.

[Len911]

The "Artist" version of Presonus' DAW doesn't accept third party plugins. Strictly speaking, nobody's DAW requires third-party plugins, but...ideally, nobody needs anything but a little EQ.

ah, in that case,

if I was new and starting from scratch, probably Reaper or Traktion.

[cosmicdolphin]

Hello,
As studio one was the first, and only DAW that I've used, would anyone recommend I explore Protools or any other DAW or are they pretty much all the same?

Essentially yes they are all much of a muchness, and if you're working alone I'd say just use whatever you are most comfortable with.

I did a track using the demo of StudioOne and I liked it quite a bit but I'm so much faster on my old 2010 version of Sonar I don't think I can make the jump. I don't like Sonar since they changed to the X-series , I've tried Bitwig as well and Ohm Studio..still revert back to what I know lol.

My mate who used Sonar for 15yrs had to learn Pro Tools for his degree course and he says now he's used to it he can record live instruments much more quickly but he doesn't find it easy to write stuff that uses midi a lot more with it.

Mark

[cosmicdolphin]

I recently switched to studio one this year and i absolutely love it. The workflow is so easy and sped up my sessions by a lot. I was with Cakewalk for over 15 years - and decided to demo S1 when Sonar went to a subscription model. I have not looked back. I love studio one!

Marcus

Marcus..You may be able to enlighten me

I've been with Cakewalk almost since the beginning when it was midi only in the 90's. I'm stuck on Sonar 8.5 as I think they kinda ruined it with X1 ( and I've tried and disliked X3 too ) . I like many things about StudioOne which I am demoing but I do a lot of mixing not just for myself but for others as well and my main bugbear is the automation.

I like mixes to have a lot of fader rides ( ironically I have a Presonus Faderport ) and I just find it way easier in Sonar as all the automation is actually overlaid on the same audio or midi track lane. When I reached the point of the mix where I wanted to get stuck into the automation in StudioOne it seemed the only way was to create a separate automation lane at the bottom of the track view..this is a complete pain for me when I have a song with 60 tracks and may want to automate say 20 of them, I spent half my time scrolling around trying to find stuff. Also I often automate a "clip" if I just want to make something jump out for a split second and I can't seem to find a similar function either.

I do the automation both at track and buss level..i.e. I may get to a chorus and ride the snare for more energy but also ride up all the drum overhead mics which are on a single buss , and maybe the the reverb return at the same time just to give the whole thing a lift. Then pull it all back down again for the verse. This is similar to how I learned to mix back in the analogue days, when we had to do it "live" at mixdown.

As a previous long term Sonar user like myself do you have any insight into this stuff ? Eventually my Sonar 8.5.3 is going to be obsolete!

Thanks

Mark

[Len911]

Seven years ago when I started, there was much less to choose from, and for some reason I was down to a choice between cubase and pro tools for pc. I chose cubase, because at the time there was like 2 different versions of pro tools, one was totally out of my price range, and the plugins were so much more expensive than the native versions. There's maybe 1 reason I would ever choose pro tools, and that would be if I was opening a public studio, or getting in the business mixing professionally.
I thought Cubase was the most unintuitive thing I'd ever seen, however, once I got used to it, it would be difficult to change. I've tried piddling around with a couple other daws, but I've personally concluded that because it always seemed like I would first use my cubase intuition, and when that didn't work have to look things up, I was wasting alot of time and going back to Cubase. Not that I don't waste a lot of time in fruitless pursuits,lol, but covering the same ground is not exciting.

[mojobone]

I recently switched to studio one this year and i absolutely love it. The workflow is so easy and sped up my sessions by a lot. I was with Cakewalk for over 15 years - and decided to demo S1 when Sonar went to a subscription model. I have not looked back. I love studio one!

Marcus

Marcus..You may be able to enlighten me

I've been with Cakewalk almost since the beginning when it was midi only in the 90's. I'm stuck on Sonar 8.5 as I think they kinda ruined it with X1 ( and I've tried and disliked X3 too ) . I like many things about StudioOne which I am demoing but I do a lot of mixing not just for myself but for others as well and my main bugbear is the automation.

I like mixes to have a lot of fader rides ( ironically I have a Presonus Faderport ) and I just find it way easier in Sonar as all the automation is actually overlaid on the same audio or midi track lane. When I reached the point of the mix where I wanted to get stuck into the automation in StudioOne it seemed the only way was to create a separate automation lane at the bottom of the track view..this is a complete pain for me when I have a song with 60 tracks and may want to automate say 20 of them, I spent half my time scrolling around trying to find stuff. Also I often automate a "clip" if I just want to make something jump out for a split second and I can't seem to find a similar function either.

I do the automation both at track and buss level..i.e. I may get to a chorus and ride the snare for more energy but also ride up all the drum overhead mics which are on a single buss , and maybe the the reverb return at the same time just to give the whole thing a lift. Then pull it all back down again for the verse. This is similar to how I learned to mix back in the analogue days, when we had to do it "live" at mixdown.

As a previous long term Sonar user like myself do you have any insight into this stuff ? Eventually my Sonar 8.5.3 is going to be obsolete!

Thanks

Mark

You might get along a lot better with Tracktion; automation is right there in the track view, and if need be, you can drag and drop a fader onto a clip and automate that. You can bus any track to any other track and build whatever kind of mixer you need for virtually unlimited subgroups/auxes, which I find downright handy. Also handy? Never having to switch 'views' when tracking/mixing, since it's a single-screen interface.

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

I recently switched to studio one this year and i absolutely love it. The workflow is so easy and sped up my sessions by a lot. I was with Cakewalk for over 15 years - and decided to demo S1 when Sonar went to a subscription model. I have not looked back. I love studio one!

Marcus

Marcus..You may be able to enlighten me

I've been with Cakewalk almost since the beginning when it was midi only in the 90's. I'm stuck on Sonar 8.5 as I think they kinda ruined it with X1 ( and I've tried and disliked X3 too ) . I like many things about StudioOne which I am demoing but I do a lot of mixing not just for myself but for others as well and my main bugbear is the automation.

I like mixes to have a lot of fader rides ( ironically I have a Presonus Faderport ) and I just find it way easier in Sonar as all the automation is actually overlaid on the same audio or midi track lane. When I reached the point of the mix where I wanted to get stuck into the automation in StudioOne it seemed the only way was to create a separate automation lane at the bottom of the track view..this is a complete pain for me when I have a song with 60 tracks and may want to automate say 20 of them, I spent half my time scrolling around trying to find stuff. Also I often automate a "clip" if I just want to make something jump out for a split second and I can't seem to find a similar function either.

I do the automation both at track and buss level..i.e. I may get to a chorus and ride the snare for more energy but also ride up all the drum overhead mics which are on a single buss , and maybe the the reverb return at the same time just to give the whole thing a lift. Then pull it all back down again for the verse. This is similar to how I learned to mix back in the analogue days, when we had to do it "live" at mixdown.

As a previous long term Sonar user like myself do you have any insight into this stuff ? Eventually my Sonar 8.5.3 is going to be obsolete!

Thanks

Mark

I never thought I would switch from Sonar...ever! I was in love with everything they did. Then...it started feeling like sessions were taking me longer than necessary. Then Sonar did a terrible update that I didnt want. As far as automation, in S1 I usually touch a parameter, and drag the little hand right on top of the track. Not to a new track or empty space. I have found automation much better in S1 once I got used to everything. I even mimicked all my Sonar shortcuts . I have found it so intuitive and user friendly. The other day I had to open an old session for a client in Sonar and I was like uhhhhh. I felt myself like - this is gonna take way longer. So I bounced all stems to S1 haha. There are a couple things I miss. ProChannel for one. But now I find myself reaching for better plugins rather than going with what was stock and easy in the PC.

anything that has a parameter can be automated (way more than sonar) and also with 1 touch can be mapped anywhere on your controller. Lots of great youtube vids. You can search Studio One 3 automation. I think S1 is only getting better. And they take input from their forums for fixes and improvements.

A year ago I would have been fighting for you to stay with sonar. But i was not impressed with Platinum... and S1 is growing fast.. and it has a super workflow. A couple of my fav features are pre-record input. So in case i miss something as soon as i hit record, it prerecorded a set time (in my case 5 seconds). I also love that I can edit and reach preferences all while recording. Sonar didn't let me do anything while it was recording. Also gapless playback. Anyway, mostly little things but for me the workflow speed enhancements is what ultimately made me switch. Go with what works for u. Whatever brings out your best tunes.

Marcus